Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly

04/12/2014

Vladimir Putin made his Annual Address to the
Federal Assembly. As is tradition, the Address took place at the
Kremlin’s St George Hall before an audience of more than 1,000 people.
In
his Address, the President set out his views on the situation in Ukraine
and outlined Russia’s position with regard to events taking place
there. In the foreign policy section of the Address, Mr Putin also spoke
about international security issues and the integration processes
taking place in the world.On
the subject of Russia’s economic strategy, the President said that
Russia is open to the world, to investment and to carrying out projects
together, but ultimately, Russia’s development depends above all on the
country’s own efforts. Mr Putin named development of new technology and
competitive goods, giving the country’s industry and financial sector a
more solid foundation, and training the needed personnel as priority
tasks.The
President also talked about relations between the state and business,
in particular the need to free up the environment for doing business as
much as possible and the concrete steps that can be taken to achieve
this. Mr Putin proposed that no changes be made to the current tax rules
for the next four years, and also proposed an amnesty for capital
returning to Russia.The President set the goal of reaching growth rates above the world average within the next 3-4 years.Mr
Putin also set objectives in the financial sector, agribusiness, and
the banking sector, and declared the need to free Russia from dependence
on foreign technology. Import substitution is a long term strategy, the
President said, and is a goal for Russia regardless of the situation
with sanctions. Mr Putin also gave the main target figures for Russian
exports and investment levels. The
President proposed implementing a national technology initiative that
will involve forecasting the technology needs required to guarantee
Russia’s national security and ensure high living standards and economic
development over the coming 10-15 years.The President also spoke about demography, healthcare and education.In
his concluding section, Mr Putin focused on the dialogue between the
state authorities and the public and the need to raise civic activeness
and Russia’s civil society potential.Those
present for the Address included members of the Federation Council,
State Duma deputies, members of the Government, heads of the
Constitutional and Supreme Courts, regional governors, heads of regional
legislative assemblies, heads of Russia’s traditional religious faiths,
public figures, including heads of regional public chambers, and the
heads of Russia’s biggest media outlets.
* * *PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Citizens of Russia, members of the Federation Council and deputies of the State Duma,Today’s
address will be related to the current situation and conditions, as
well as the tasks we are facing. But before delivering it I’d like to
thank all of you for the support, unity and solidarity you have shown
during the landmark events that will seriously influence the future of
our country.This
year we faced trials that only a mature and united nation and a truly
sovereign and strong state can withstand. Russia has proved that it can
protect its compatriots and defend truth and fairness.Russia
has done this thanks to its citizens, thanks to your work and the
results we have achieved together, and thanks to our profound
understanding of the essence and importance of national interests. We
have become aware of the indivisibility and integrity of the
thousand-year long history of our country. We have come to believe in
ourselves, to believe that we can do much and achieve every goal.Of
course, we will talk about this year’s landmark events. You know that a
referendum was held in Crimea in March, at which its residents clearly
expressed their desire to join Russia. After that, the Crimean
parliament – it should be stressed that it was a legitimate parliament
that was elected back in 2010 – adopted a resolution on sovereignty. And
then we saw the historical reunification of Crimea and Sevastopol with
Russia.It
was an event of special significance for the country and the people,
because Crimea is where our people live, and the peninsula is of
strategic importance for Russia as the spiritual source of the
development of a multifaceted but solid Russian nation and a centralised
Russian state. It was in Crimea, in the ancient city of Chersonesus or
Korsun, as ancient Russian chroniclers called it, that Grand Prince
Vladimir was baptised before bringing Christianity to Rus.In
addition to ethnic similarity, a common language, common elements of
their material culture, a common territory, even though its borders were
not marked then, and a nascent common economy and government,
Christianity was a powerful spiritual unifying force that helped involve
various tribes and tribal unions of the vast Eastern Slavic world in
the creation of a Russian nation and Russian state. It was thanks to
this spiritual unity that our forefathers for the first time and
forevermore saw themselves as a united nation. All of this allows us to
say that Crimea, the ancient Korsun or Chersonesus, and Sevastopol have
invaluable civilisational and even sacral importance for Russia, like
the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for the followers of Islam and Judaism.And this is how we will always consider it.Dear friends,We
cannot fail to mention today our perspective on the developments in
Ukraine and how we intend to work with our partners around the world.It
is well known that Russia not only supported Ukraine and other
brotherly republics of the former Soviet Union in their aspirations to
sovereignty, but also facilitated this process greatly in the 1990ies.
Since then, our position has remained unchanged.Every
nation has an inalienable sovereign right to determine its own
development path, choose allies and political regimes, create an economy
and ensure its security. Russia has always respected these rights and
always will. This fully applies to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.It
is true that we condemned the government coup and the forceful takeover
of power in Kiev in February of this year. The developments we are
currently witnessing in Ukraine and the tragedy unfolding in the
country’s southeast prove that we were right to take such a stand.How
did it all begin? I will have to remind you what happened back then. It
is hard to believe that it all started with a technical decision by
President Yanukovych to postpone the signing of the Association
Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union. Make no mistake, he
did not refuse to sign the document, but only postponed it in order to
make some adjustments.